Finland’s Casper Matikainen takes down the defending champion in wild day in Doha as 32 players set for a sprint to the World 9-ball crown.
Casper Matikainen
Finland’s Casper Matikainen came into his round of 64 match at the World 9-ball Championship today versus the defending champion and world number 1 Joshua Filler feeling relaxed and ready for battle. He figured the German great would bring his usual fire, but he also knew that Filler might also take his eye off the proverbial ball. After all, the 23 year old Finn wasn’t exactly the most feared name in a field of absolute monsters.
So even when the self-described “King” of pool jumped out to a 4-1 lead, Matikainen never lost hope, as Filler had gotten a few lucky rolls and wasn’t playing all that great, while the Finn had a few rolls go against him.
The mental strategy soon started to bear fruit for the cool-headed blonde. Slowly, and increasingly surely, Matikainen crawled even, and then took the lead while at the same time Filler started to get sloppy, lose focus and even showed some signs of panic. From 4-1 down Matikainen calmly won 9 out of the next ten frames. After a brief hiccup on the hill that allowed Filler to claim two quick racks, the steady Finn held his nerve and closed out the biggest shock of the tournament so far, an 11-7 upset of the defending champion.
“He’s the world champion and he’s playing and I’m not there in the big tournaments and maybe he’s thinking it’s an easy win,” the 22 year old Matikainen said afterward. “I felt that Joshua had the pressure because he’s the world champion and I was really relaxed at the table and that helped me and I just got it done.”
Matikainen’s massive win was but one huge result on a dramatic day in Doha that saw some of pool’s biggest names dumped out, while others were taken to the absolute limits. With the field now down to the final 32, the next two days promises to be one of the most exciting and fascinating Battle Royale’s of 9-ball we’ve seen in years.
America’s Shane Van Boening had come to Doha a heavy favorite this year and for good reason. His last three starts here ended with two runner ups and a spot in the semis last year. But several early mistakes against Taiwan’s Liu Ri Teng was all it took for the Taiwanese to grab a commanding lead at 10-4. The American mounted a valiant fight back, but the alternate break format meant the hole was too deep. Liu sent Van Boening packing in the round of 64 with a humbling 11-8 defeat.
After his runner up finish at the US Open in Las Vegas last April, former champion Wu Jiaqing figured to go far here in Doha. But Wu came up against fellow compatriot Xu Xiaocong, who is one of a slew of quality young talents coming out of China. Xu has impressed all week here and against Wu he turned his game up several notches, crushing the former Boy Wonder 11-5.
The Taiwanese are almost sure to have one, possibly two players in the semis after tomorrow as Team Taipei looked absolutely marvelous today. It isn’t easy picking a favorite out of these world beaters but World 10-ball Champion Ko Ping Chung would probably be at the top of most punters betting sheets. The slightly built and painfully shy 22 year old is clearly at the top of his game but he even he barely escaped in a harrowing match against Hungary’s talented Oliver Szolnoki.
Szolnoki, another bright European prospect, played the match of his young career and had “Little” Ko on the ropes, shooting out to a 7-3, then 8-5 lead. The fresh-faced Hungarian reached the hill first, but Ko then displayed the courage and guts that only champions can pull off. In a nervy and tense sudden death rack, the Taiwanese made a series of surreal pressure shots to eek out the victory.
Little Ko’s older brother and two-time former world champion Pin Yi also won today, easily defeating Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama, 11-5. Fellow Taiwanese Chang Jung Lin, Chang Yu Lung, Lin Wu Kun and Kevin Chang all won their round of 64 matches today. In all seven Taiwanese made it through to the round of 32.
2016 World 9-ball champion Albin Ouschan of Austria looks to be in very fine form this year, as he easily defeated Taiwan’s Lin Ta Li 11-5. Fellow Austrian Max Lechner continued his rise this year with an 11-4 win over Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis.
The Russian contingent also put in solid performances today. Veteran Ruslan Chinakhov took down American Corey Duel 11-3, while youngster Fedor Gorst stayed alive with an 11-8 win over Slovakia’s Jakub Koniar.
2012 World 9-ball Champion Darren Appleton has been quietly playing himself back into game shape over the last few months and his solid victory today over Albanian star and European Mosconi team member Eklent Kaci could be a portent for the rest of the field. The Englishman battled back from a 4-0 deficit, and then turned the screws on the Albanian for a quality 11-6 win. In his remarkable heyday from 2008 to 2015, Appleton famously grinded out championships by the truckload and that bulldog mentality definitely was on display this afternoon.
The Philippines had only three players in the final 64 but all three made it through today. 2017 World 9-ball champion Carlo Biado got taken to the limit by Qatari veteran Bashar Hussein, before breaking and running the last rack for an 11-10 win. Also winning today for the Team Pinoy were Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ignacio.
The Polish contingent has been getting stronger by the year and they showed their quality today with three of their stars pushing through to the final 32. Mieszko Fortunski, Wojciech Szewczyk, and Mateusz Sniegocki all won handily.
Also advancing today were the USA’s Billy Thorpe, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, China’s Liu Haitao, Greece’s Alexander Kazakis, Spain’s Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, England’s Chris Melling, Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, Qatar’s Waleed Majid, Vietnam’s Do The Kien, and Hong Kong’s young upstart Yip Kin Ling.
The penultimate day of the World 9-ball championship will be extremely busy as the field will be whittled down to the final four at the end of the days’ action.
Play on day 3, Monday, Dec. 16th will begin at 10am Doha time(GMT +3). All matches will be single elimination knockout race to 11, alternate break.
The winner of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The total prize fund is $150,00.
*The 2019 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar from December 10-17, 2019. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view live scoring, results, brackets and live streaming of many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform at esnooker.pl. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public.
Results Final 64
Casper Matikainen(FIN) 11 – 7 Joshua Filler(GER)
Yip Kin Ling(HKG) 11 – 5 John Morra(CAN)
If the first day’s play of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship is any indication–and by all measures it certainly is just that–then fans around the world better be prepared for a wild roller coaster ride over the next three days. Drama, upsets, nerves, revelations, suprises, excitement and downright brilliant 9-ball at the highest levels were all on display as play commenced in the 28th running of pool’s premier crown. And with a loaded field just getting warmed up, it’s only going to get better leading to the final on Tuesday.
With 64 matches played on 16 tables at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Day 1 saw 32 players book their spots in the final 64 knockout stage which begins Sunday. None of the 96 players have yet to see the exits, but there were plenty of upsets, near upsets, and upstarts making their mark on pool’s biggest stage.
The top 32 seeds were given a bye in the first round of their groups, so these players only had to win one match to reach the single elimination knockout rounds. Defending champion Joshua Filler of Germany did just that, but not before a shaky start which saw him tied at 4-4 in the race to 9 alternate break match against Qatari veteran Bashar Hussain. The World number one was never in trouble, though, and cruised to a 9-5 win.
2017 champion and runner up last year Carlo Biado of the Philippines didn’t fair as well as he got dumped over to the one loss side of his group with a shocking 9-3 loss to Chile’s Enrique Rojas. It was Rojas’ second straight victory of the day, the first coming over Kuwait’s Abdullah Alyusef. Rojas now books his well deserved spot in the Final 64 tomorrow.
The USA’s Shane Van Boening is one of the favorites here this week, but he looked a bit cold early on in his match with young talented Chinese player Xu Xiaocong. Xu is part of a large crop coming from China’s youth movement and he had the American down three quarters of the way through their match. But SVB pulled it together at the last minute and squeaked by the Chinese, 9-8. Xu will get one more chance on Sunday.
Fellow American and Mosconi teammate Billy Thorpe also booked his spot in the final 64 with a 9-5 win over Canada’s Stephen Holem.
It was a solid day for team Taiwan. World 10-ball Champion Ko Ping Chung went up against Myamar’s rising star Phone Myint Kyaw, who also goes by the moniker, Muang Muang. Kyaw is a player that pool fans will want to pay attention to. He’s a former snooker player who has been winning regularly on the brutally tough Chinese 8-ball circuit, and he just grabbed two gold medals in the Southeast Asian games in Manila. His stroke is one of the most solid in the game and anyone who watches him play instantly can see the potential in this young man.
But of course, Ko is a young prodigy who has already proven his metal in American pool with his recent win at the World 10-ball in July in Vegas. Little Ko didn’t have much trouble with Muang Muang, winning handily, 9-4.
Little Ko will join his older brother Pin Yi in the final 64, who defeated the always stingy Jalal Al Sarisi of Venezuela, 9-4. Other Taiwanese cruising into the final 64 include Chang Jung Lin, Chang Yu Lung, and Kevin Cheng.
The Philippines is surprisingly unrepresented in Doha this year with only four players in the field. With Biado losing early it was up to Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ingacio to save the day for the Pinoys. Both looked the goods and nabbed spots in the final 64.
It was a mixed bag for the European Mosconio Cup team. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis is one of Europe’s top bets here this week and he qualified for the knockout round with an easy 9-5 win over Qatar’s Waleed Majid. But Albania’s Eklent Kaci and former World 9-ball Champion Niels Feijen of the Netherlands weren’t so fortunate. Kaci lost big to the Netherlands’ Ivar Saris, who had earlier looked solid in a 9-6 win over Poland’s Karol Skowerski. Feijen went down to upstart Hong Konger Yip Kin Ling, 9-7, who took his spot in the Final 64 with his second win of the day.
The surprises kept coming throughout the day. Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis first squeaked by Peru’s Gerson Martinez, 9-8. Then he took on former World 9-ball Champion Wu Jiaqing, and shocked the Chinese great with a 9-7 upset, and a spot in the knockout rounds.
Also booking a spot in the final 64 was Canada’s John Morra, who continued his return to fine form with a 9-8 win over Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki. Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp showed that he’s clearly a dark horse to watch here in Doha with a 9-4 drubbing of China’s talented Dang Jinhu. England’s Chris Melling came back from 6-2 down to defeat Vietnam’s Do The Kien, 9-7. Also advancing today were Japan’s Naoyuki Oi, Austria’s Max Lechner, China’s Lui Haitao, Estonia’s Dennis Grabe, Finland’s Petri Makkonen, Germany’s Ralf Souquet, and Spaniards David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.
Play on day 2 on Sunday, Dec. 14th will begin at 10am Doha time(GMT +3). The field will be whittled down to 64 players playing single elimination knockout race to 11. The round of 64 will be completed in the first two session, and by the end of the day, the field will be down to the final 32.
The winner of the 2019 World 9-ball Championship will receive $30,000. The total prize fund is $150,00.
*The 2019 WPA World 9-ball Championship takes place at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar from December 10-17, 2019. The event is hosted by The Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation(QBSF), and is sanctioned by the World Pool Billiard Association, the governing body of the sport of pool.
Fans around the world will be able to view live scoring, results, brackets and live streaming of many of the matches via the QBSF’s free live streaming platform at esnooker.pl. Multiple tables will be available to view online at no charge to the public.
Tony Robles, Thorsten Hohmann and Tournament Director John Leyman (Erwin Dionisio)
Soto, Rosario, Sugiyama, Musser and Karwas win other division 8-ball titles
Three days after winning the 7th Steinway Classic in a thrilling, double hill final match against Fedor Gorst (Oct. 17), Thorsten Hohmann, at the same location, won the Grand Master Division of the NYC 8-Ball Championships (Oct. 20) with a slightly less dramatic 6-1 finals victory over Ruslan Chinakhov. The Grand Master division of the annual event, which drew 22 entrants to Steinway, was one of six division 8-ball tournaments held on the weekend of October 19-20. In all, under the sponsorship of Michael Fedak, the NYC Singles 8-Ball Championships added $15,000, divided among the six divisions, which drew 151 unique entrants.
It was Jose Soto who won in the 16-entrant Mixed Master’s Division, Abel Rosario in the 32-entrant Mixed Advanced Division, Akiko Sugiyama in the 32-entrant Women’s Leisure Division, and Maxwell Musser in the 32-entrant Men’s Leisure Division. The largest field, 48 entrants, was the Mixed Open Division, won by Sebastian Karwas.
Hohmann’s path to the winners’ circle in the Grand Masters event went through Chinakhov twice. He opened with a double hill win over Joey Korsiak and then, sent Chinakhov to the loss side 6-4. Hohmann then defeated Del Sim 6-4, to draw Damianos Giallourakis in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Nick Ekonomopoulos in the meantime, after being awarded an opening round bye, downed the Steinway Classic’s runner-up, Fedor Gorst 6-2 and Jalal Yousef 6-4 to draw Jimmy Rivera in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Hohmann defeated Giallourakis 6-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Ekonomopoulos, who’d sent Rivera west 6-1. Hohmann claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited on the return of Chinakhov.
On the loss side, Chinakhov was working on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would give him a second chance against Hohmann. He got by Raphael Dabreo 6-2, Ryan Hsu 6-4, Tony Robles 6-2 and survived a double fight versus Burgos to draw Giallourakis, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Rivera picked up Roland Garcia, who after being defeated by Giallourakis ended Gorst’s run 6-1 and by the same score, Del Sim’s.
Chinakhov and Giallourakis battled to double hill before Chinakhov advanced to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Garcia, who’d eliminated Rivera 6-2. Chinakhov took the quarterfinal match 6-2.
He completed his loss-side run with a double hill win over Ekonomopoulos in the semifinals. Hohmann, though, shut Chinakhov down early in the finals and completed his undefeated run with a 6-1 victory over Chinakhov.
Soto is the only competitor to come from the loss side to win Mixed Masters Division
Five of the six divisions of the NYC Singles 8-Ball Championships featured winners who went undefeated through their respective fields. Jose Soto, in the smallest field (16), competing in the Mixed Masters division, was the only competitor to win a division by coming from the loss side to defeat the hot seat occupant. And he did so, by losing in his first round and winning six loss-side matches to down Cesar Turcios in the finals.
Soto lost 5-1 to Tim Edmonds in the opening round of play. Edmonds was subsequently defeated by Brooke Meyers, who advanced to face Turcios in the hot seat match. Turcios claimed the hot seat in a double hill win over Meyers. On the loss side, three of the six matches Soto played, forced him to play a single deciding game to advance; matches against Eddie Kunz, Matthew Harricharan and his quarterfinal match against Miguel Laboy. Soto downed Meyers 6-3 in the semifinals and then, claimed the title with an 8-4 win over Turcios.
The largest field of 48, in the Mixed Open division, was won by Sebastian Karwas, who went undefeated. It took Karwas as many matches on the winners’ side of the Mixed Open bracket to claim the title, as it took Soto on both sides of the Mixed Masters bracket to win his. Karwas got by Jim Gutierrez, Keith Stefanowitz, Omar Chavez, Alex Kent and Marco Daniele to face Paul Lyons in the hot seat match. He claimed the hot seat 6-1 over Lyons, who moved to the loss side and downed Daniele in the semifinals 5-3. Karwas took their second match 6-4 to claim the title.
Rosario and Schreiber battle it out for Mixed Advanced title
Two of the New York area’s better competitors in their respective ranking divisions battled twice to claim the 32-entrant Mixed Advanced title. Abel Rosario and Thomas Schreiber hold top positions in the standings of both the Tri-State and Predator Pro Am Tours. Rosario is #10 on the Tri-State’s A+/A standings list and the #3 B+ player on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Schreiber is #5 on the Tri-State’s list of B players and # 2 on the Predator Pro Am Tour’s list of B players.
After four victories each, they met first in the hot seat match. Rosario claimed the hot seat 6-3. Schreiber moved to the loss side and downed Matthew Rezendes 5-1. He and Rosario fought to an appropriate double hill game 11 before Rosario finished it to claim the title.
In the 32-entrant Women’s Leisure division, Akiko Sugiyama won five straight to claim that title. She faced Melissa Schleifer twice and gave up only a single rack over the two matches; that one, coming in Sugiyama’s victory in the hot seat match. Schleifer shut Debra Pritchett out in the semifinals, but punctuating her undefeated run through the field, Sugiyama shut Schleifer out in the finals.
Completing the six-tournament event, it was Maxwell Musser, who went undefeated through the 32-entrant Men’s Leisure field. Musser faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals, defeating Brian Schell to claim the hot seat, and after Henry Chan had downed Schell double hill in the semifinals, Musser shut him out to take the title.
As always, event director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as Dr. Michael Fedak for his continuing financial support for this event (Fedak finished in the tie for 13th place in the Mixed Open tournament). Robles also noted sponsorship support from Predator Cues, and Blatt Billiards. According to Robles, the 2020 NYC 8-Ball Championships are going to be even better. It’s being planned as a three-day event on Columbus Day weekend and Dr. Fedak will be adding $20,000.
“This event wouldn’t be possible without the support of Michael and Marilyn Fedak,” said Robles.
In the round of the last 32 players single elimination of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2019, all remaining three Austrian players have been eliminated,
Albin Ouschan (AUT) was up against young Wiktor Zielinski (POL). The Polish youth player has demonstrated last year when he won the Euro-Tour in Treviso, Italy, how strong he can perform. That also happened tonight. he succeeded in playing his A-game, using his chances and keeping Ouschan always at a distance. After 2:2, Zielinski dominated the match and did not allow Ouschan to get back into it. He made no mistakes while the Austrian struggled and could not find a recipe to break Zielinski’s run. 9:6 was the clear result in favour of Zielinski which leaves a 17th rank finish for Ouschan.
Ouschan’s teammates Mario He and Max Lechner had even worse experiences in the same round. Both of them lost with 1:9. Mario He fell against Eklent Kaci (ALB) while Lechner was overpowered by Ruslan Chinakhov. Having three top class players in the round of the last 32 players with all of them losing more or less clearly is definitely not the result that the Austrian organiser would have wished to see at the end of this day.
Loser’s Round 2
The day started with most matches displaying „business as usual“. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) seemed to be back on track and eliminated Adam Stankiewicz (POL) 9:4. Wiktor Zielinski (POL) handed a doughnut to Marco Schmitt (GER) winning his match 9:0. The first small upset was provided by Pierfrancesco Garzia (ITA) when he ousted teammate Fabio Petroni (ITA) surprisingly with 9:5. Another interesting result was Marcus Chamat (SWE), the captain of the European Mosconi Cup Team, winning with 9:5 over Imran Majid (GBR). The next round however brought a huge surprise. Ralf Souquet (GER), multiple World, European and Euro-Tour Champion, was kicked out by Michael Huetter (AUT), local player from Austria. That exit came completely unexpected for Souquet and does also not help him to advance in the rankings. While Souquet was out, other high profile players on the loser’s side such as Tomasz Kaplan (POL), Thorsten Hohmann (GER) and Darren Appleton (GBR) continued their quest through the loser’s rounds.
Loser’s Round 3
The next capital casualties were recorded in loser’s round 3. Thorsten Hohmann fell to the sharp blade of Alex Montpellier (FRA) with 7:9. The same round saw Pijus Labutis (LTU) fall to Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) with 0:9. Francesco Candela (ITA), dark horse from Italy ended Darren Appleton’s journey here at the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2019 with an impressive 9:7 victory over the former World Games Gold Medallist.
Loser’s Round 4
This round saw the end of Europe’s Mosconi Cup captain Marcus „Napoleon“ Chamat (SWE) who was defeated by Konstantinos Koukiadakis (GRE) with 9:8. Karol Skowerski (POL) took down „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:6 in the same round.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2019 will continue at 10:00 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 players single elimination. The final match is scheduled for 18:00 local time.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page and on the EPBF YouTube channel. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open are played in the Sportpark Klagenfurt Arena in Klagenfurt, Austria, on up to 20 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Probably the biggest news of today is that 14-year-old Yannick Pongers (NED) ousted "The Terminator" Niels Feijen (NED) from the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019 with 9:8.
Earlier today, Feijen had to take a defeat against Marco Dorenburg (GER) with 6:9 already. He then went on to the loser’s side where the Dutch junior player. Pongers was already on the loser’s side and just barely made his way through to the match against Feijen with a 9:8 victory over Jonas Souto (ESP). Before the match, probably everybody including Pongers thought that Feijen would definitely be the player to make it through. He has all these prestigious titles and wins under his belt. But the way the match went prove everybody’s expectations wrong. Young Pongers hung in there and lever allowed Feijen to get a big advantage over him. To the contrary, he used his chances and took the points whenever possible. After 14 racks, the score was 7:7. Feijen executed the break shot and he had a ball down but no shot on the lowest numbered ball. A safety battle evolved where Pongers prove to be the smarter player. He forced Feijen to make a mistake and consequently ran the rack to get on the fill first, taking an 8:7 lead over Feijen. Then in rack 16, Pongers had the break shot. He broke dry with no ball down and even had an illegal break. Since the lowest numbered ball was not available, Feijen handed the table back to Pongers. This time, Feijen had the better end in his favour and was able to win the rack, making the match a hill-hill affair at 8:8 with his own break shot coming up. This time, Feijen broke dry with all balls spread nicely on the table. Pongers decided to go for a safety and this time he lost the safety exchange to Feijen. "The Terminator" had an open table in front of him without any real problem visible. To his horror, he missed an easy 2-ball and left the layout for Pongers. The youngster cleared the table and won the rack and the match with 9:8 over Feijen. In his next match, Yannick Pongers met Damianos Giallourakis (GRE). In that match, the young Dutch was not able to keep up his brilliant performance and lost 6:9 tot he Greek. However, this 49th rank finish can be regarded as a really high achievement of the 14-year-old Pongers.
Other remarkable results include Tim De Ruyter (NED) ousting David Alcaide (ESP) with 9:7. On the winner’s side, Oliver Ortmann (GER) was able to defeat his fellow countryman Ralf Souquet (GER) with 9:6. Then, Ortmann lost a nail biter to Chinakhov with 8:9 and had to go up against German youngster Jacques Wollschlaeger. Here, the youngster was dominant and ended Ortmann’s run in the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019, handing him a clear 9:4 defeat. Former World 9-Ball Champion Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann (GER) lost his loser’s qualifying round match against Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) with 3:9.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 players. The final match is scheduled for 18:00 CET.
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open are played in the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, on up to 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
In a thrilling and high class pool match, Eklent Kaci (ALB) took his next title at the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019 by winning the final match over Joshua Filler (GER) with 9:6.
For the first time in a long time now, the #1 seeded player in a Euro-Tour event met the #2 seeded player in the final match. Today, Kaci (#1) and Filler (#2) made that clash come true so high class pool entertainment was guaranteed. And the final match kept the promise and fulfilled the high expectations. Both players played up to their limit, knowing that the winner of that encounter will be the #1 ranked player after this tournament. Players took racks in turn until the scoreboard displayed 5:5. Then, Kaci managed to get a 2-rack advantage over Filler, leading 7:5. Filler got to 7:6 when Kaci answered that and won the next rack himself. With Kaci being on the hill, Joshua Filler broke rack 15 but committed an illegal break. Kaci used that chance and ran the table to win the event and take his next title at the Euro-Tour.
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open were played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 22 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Ralf Souquet (left), Wojciech Szewczyk (middle) and Maximilian Lechner
Maximilian Lechner (AUT) has booked his spot in the round of the last 16 players in the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019 with a 9:7 victory over Petri Makkonen (FIN).
Lechner will be accompanied in the round by his teammate Mario He (AUT) who managed to eliminate „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:6 in the last round today.
Joshua „Killer“ Filler (GER) is also among the last 16 men standing. He defeated Christian Froehlich (GER) 9:3.
BCA Hall of Fame Ralf Souquet (GER) took down Miguel Silva (POR) with 9:7 and kept a foot in the door to take a shot at the title here in St. Johann im Pongau.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open will commence tomorrow, June 15th, at 10:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open are played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Maximilian Lechner, Ruslan Chinakhov and Damianos Giallourakis
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 is down to the final 16 players single elimination stage.
As always in the later stages of the Euro-Tour, today saw many great players exiting the field. One of the earliest outs was Thorsten Hohmann (GER) who fell to the sharp blade of Philipp Stojanovic (CRO) with 4:9 in loser’s round 4. Another high profile victim in the same round was David Alcaide (ESP) who got eliminated by Alexander Kazakis (GRE) with 6:9. The same fate was shared by Chis Melling (GBR) who lost 8:9 against unheralded Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) with 8:9 in a heartbreaker.
One of the most prominent casualty of today happened one round later when #1 ranked player Eklent Kaci (ALB) had to give in to Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) with the closest of all results, 8:9.
Apart from those mentioned guns, most of the seeded players reached the single elimination stage as expected. In the round of the last 32 players, the established faces all made their way through to the next round. Only Oliver Ortmann (GER) found no cure against Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) and left the tournament with a 7:9 defeat against the Greek who originates from Rhodes Island and lives in Scandinavia currently. „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) came up with a super convincing performance against young Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) leaving no chance for the young gun from Bosnia and Hercegovina, winning as clearly as 9:1 over him. Albin Ouschan (AUT) needed some more effort to overpower Kim Laaksonen (FIN) with 9:6 in a fiercely fought over match. Joshua Filler (GER), the player who seems to be on fire at the moment, ended the hopes of Konstantinos Koukiadakis (GRE) with an impressive 9:3 victory. Grandmaster Ralf Souquet (GER), „The Kaiser“ outplayed Georgi Georgiev (BUL) with 9:6 and also still has a saying in who will win the title here in Leende.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
